1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the complete combustion of hydrocarbon materials to maximize the generation of energy and stoichiometric products. In particular, the invention relates to a complete combustion process and system which is arranged and designed to gasify and oxidize a variety of solid and/or liquid hydrocarbon materials to produce energy, carbon dioxide, and water. The invention further relates to recycling and optimizing intermediate compounds produced through the gasification and oxidation processes to maximize energy, carbon dioxide, and water production. More particularly, the invention relates to the complete combustion of hydrocarbon feedstocks and the subsequent electrolysis of the water product to generate recoverable oxygen and hydrogen gases.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Gasification is a thermo-chemical process that converts hydrocarbon-containing materials into a combustible gas called producer gas. Producer gas contains carbon monoxide, hydrogen, water vapor, carbon dioxide, tar vapor and ash particles. Gasification produces a low-Btu or medium-Btu gas, depending on the process used. Producer gas contains 70-80% of the energy originally present in the hydrocarbon feedstock. The producer gas can be burned directly for heat energy, or it can be burned in a boiler to produce steam for power generation. Medium-Btu producer gas can be converted into a liquid fuel, such as methanol.
Solid/liquid hydrocarbon gasification is a two-stage process. In the first pyrolysis stage, heat vaporizes the volatile components of the hydrocarbon in the absence of air at temperatures ranging between 450° to 600° C. (842° to 1112° F.). Pyrolysis vapor consists of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, methane, volatile tars, carbon dioxide, and water. The charcoal (char) residue contains about 10-25% of the original feedstock mass. The final stage of gasification is char conversion which occurs at temperatures between 700° to 1200° C. (1292° to 2192° F.). The charcoal residue from the pyrolysis stage reacts with oxygen to produce carbon monoxide as a product gas.
The gasification process is, therefore, a controlled process wherein sufficient air/oxygen is provided to the gasifier to facilitate the conversion (i.e., reduction) of most tar, char, and other solid gasification products into synthetic gas (i.e., syngas), consisting primarily of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Thus, the vast majority of products resulting from the gasification process are intermediate volatile gases. Gasification processes may use either air or oxygen to reduce the organic content of the waste. Oxygen reduction has the advantage of preventing the syngas from becoming diluted with nitrogen.
Gasification (and pyrolysis) are thermal reactions carried out to less than full oxidation by restricting the available oxygen/air. These processes always produce gas. Moreover, they can be optimized to produce mainly syngas, which has a significant fuel value. The production of dioxin is also very low in gasification due to the restricted availability of oxygen. In fact, dioxin emission in exhaust gases and its concentration in the gasification residues have proved to be below detectable limits. Gasification reactions are typically exothermic. However, syngas contains virtually all of the energy of the original hydrocarbon feedstock. For example, syngas produced through the gasification process can then be combusted at a temperature of 850° C. to provide an exhaust gas containing essentially all the energy of the original feedstock.
Current gasification technologies generally utilize processed waste or refuse-derived-fuel (RDF) containing a 6 to 7% moisture content to produce syngas. Gasification temperatures are normally maintained in the range of 600° to 1200° C. This moisture content enables hydrolysis and gasification to occur together. Conversion efficiency varies, but efficiencies as high as 87% have been reported. At high temperatures, oxygen preferentially reacts with carbon to form carbon monoxide/carbon dioxide rather than with hydrogen to form water. Thus, hydrogen is produced at high temperatures, especially when there is an insufficient oxygen/air supply to the gasifier.
The syngas produced from the gasification of 1 mole of C20H32O10 has an energy content of 7805 kilojoules (kJ). In contrast, the energy content of 1 mole of C20H32O10 that is released upon combustion is 8924 kJ. The energy required to heat the hydrocarbon feedstock to gasification temperatures accounts for this difference in available energy content. In this example, the efficiency of converting the RDF to syngas fuel is 87.5%. Based on these values, the total energy produced through gasification of the RDF would be 0.87 times the combustion value of the RDF.
The oxidation process is simply the exothermic conversion of producer gas to carbon dioxide and water. In a traditional combustion process, gasification and oxidation occur simultaneously. In the combustion process, the intermediate gasification products are consumed to produce carbon dioxide, water, and other less desirable combustion products, such as ash. For example, burning a solid hydrocarbon, such as wood, produces some pyrolytic vapors, but these pyrolytic vapors are immediately combusted at temperatures between 1500° to 2000° C. to produce carbon dioxide, water and other combustion products. In contrast, the gasification process is controlled, allowing the volatile gases to be extracted at a lower temperature before oxidation. Oxidation varies from incineration processes in that oxidation alters a compound by adding an electro-positive oxygen atom to the compound whereas incineration yields heat by reducing a compound to ash.
The invention disclosed herein optimizes the controlled environment of the gasification and oxidation processes through ingenious product recycle streams and operating conditions. The invention thus provides maximum energy production and product utilization from a given hydrocarbon feedstock with minimal atmospheric emissions.
The underlying technologies described herein are further disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,906,806; 6,024,029; 6,119,606; 6,137,026; and 6,688,318, all of which are issued to Clark and hereby incorporated by reference. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0134517, also by Clark, discloses related technologies and is hereby incorporated by reference. This application is based upon U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/848,697, also by Clark, which is hereby incorporated by reference.